Ranking the Bolts: No. 1, Philip Rivers

San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers talks about the Chargers' upset playoff victory over the Cincinnati Bengals and their upcoming game against the Denver Broncos at a news conference Monday, Jan. 6, 2014, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)
The Associated Press

San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers talks about the Chargers' upset playoff victory over the Cincinnati Bengals and their upcoming game against the Denver Broncos at a news conference Monday, Jan. 6, 2014, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

Counting down the 2013 Chargers' top 22 performers, we introduce the team MVP as voted by teammates.

Player: Philip Rivers

Age: 32

Position: Quarterback

What went right: More than anyone else, he took the team to its first postseason in four years, followed by its first playoff win in five years.

The odds favored him playing golf, not football, by January.

Injuries took out both starting receivers by mid-September. The schedule served up seven games against playoff-bound teams, the most versus San Diego in at least 10 years. The team’s defense lagged in several areas, while an overhauled offensive line, though improved from 2012, required five left tackles, four left guards and a rookie at right tackle.

Rivers responded by completing pass after pass.

His 69.5 completion percentage not only led the NFL, it set a Chargers record and beat his career mark, set in 2010, by 3.5 percentage points.

Converting 49 percent of third downs into first downs, best in the NFL for the first time in the eight-season Rivers Era, San Diego’s offense hogged the ball and sheltered the Chargers defense.

Rivers had his best football year protecting the ball, the first job of any quarterback.

His three fumbles were a career-low, half his previous best and 12 below his ghastly total in 2012, which was most at his position. Intercepted in all seven postseason games with two in the most recent one in 2009, he threw no interceptions in the two playoff games. His season interception rate of 2.0 trailed only his 1.9 of 2009.

Though he threw deep less often than in several other years, he was fourth in both yards per pass attempt and touchdowns. He had 32 touchdown passes, just two off his career-best mark set in 2008.

Along with earning his fifth Pro Bowl selection, he received Comeback Player of the Year although Ryan Mathews was the better choice.

I rate it Rivers’ best football year counting the playoffs. Others may prefer his other Pro Bowl-and-playoff seasons of 2006 and 2009. He was very good in 2008, leading the NFL in passer rating for an 8-8 team that won a playoff game (this year, he had the same passer rating of 105.5). In 2007, he helped the team reach the AFC Championship Game, in which he played despite a torn ACL.

What went wrong: In the Game 3 loss to Tennessee, his personal foul for pestering officials contributed to the Chargers not scoring a touchdown. The Game 5 defeat at Oakland began with his interception, the first of three. In Game 7 he tried running for a touchdown; when the Jaguars stopped him as time ran out, a chance at points was lost. Pursuing his fumble in Game 13 dealt him a sore neck, caused by a Giants linebacker's hit. The offense went scoreless until the fourth quarter of the Divisional Playoff loss.

Looking ahead: He enters the fifth year of a six-year, $91.8-million extension issued by A.J. Smith, who acquired him in draft-day trade with the Giants in 2004. Absent a contract restructuring that would create cap space, his 2014 salary is $13.8 million and the cap hit is $16.7 million. In 2015, the salary and cap hit are $15.7 million and $17.4 million.